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Study Guide

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This study guide has been prepared for you and your students. It is intended to assist in making the play enriching and enjoyable theatrical experience. Background information, discussion ideas and suggested activities for use both after and before the play are included. Please feel free to select the material most appropriate for your class.

2 Before the performance

DISCUSSION IDEAS: • Find out how many of your students have seen or been in a play. • Discuss the ways in which theatre is similar to and different from movies, television and other live events such as concerts, circuses, or sports events. • Discuss Theatre Etiquette: There is a big difference between seeing a play and going to a movie. The actors are performing for you live onstage, and they can see and hear what goes on in the audience. Please have your students consider the following questions: 1. What behaviors are acceptable at a live theatre performance? 2. What behaviors are NOT acceptable? 3. How can audience behavior influence a performance in a positive manner? 4. How can audience behavior affect a performance in a negative manner? 5. What other points/ observations would you consider in this discussion?

• Discuss the roles of director, playwright, musical director, choreographer, actor, set designer, light designer, costume designer, stage manager, etc. in the creation of a musical play. (*See Who Puts a Show Together below.)

• Talk a bit about the art of acting. Actors need to possess many skills to communicate the story and their characters to an audience. Have your students list what skills they think an actor needs to be successful in a play (i.e., speaking clearly, imagination, physical agility, etc.)

WHO PUTS A SHOW TOGETHER

Director- Often, a director will come up with a show he/she likes, then finds people willing to help them put the show together. The director picks the actors, runs rehearsals, and works with every single member of the staff to create a unified vision of the production.

Choreographer- Choreographers design the dance in productions.

Musical Director– Rehearses all the music with the actors and musicians. Working with the director, they guide the live musical sound of the show.

Lighting Designer -The Lighting Designer, in cooperation with the director, decides on exactly how a production should be lit, using natural or artificial light sources.

Set Designer -Works with the director to create the physical space of the play. Draws up plans to be executed by the technical director and carpenters and painters.

Costume Designer-Works with the director to create the clothes the actors will wear.

Technical Director -Responsible for turning the set design into a practical set of working drawings and construction techniques, while ensuring a safe acting/working space for actors onstage.

Properties Master/Designer -Most productions use a Props Master to deal with the large number of small items that a play needs. In larger shows, there may also be a Props Designer who will decide on exactly what the props should look like, in coordination with the Director and Set Designer.

Stage Manager -The Stage Manager works very closely with the director and manages rehearsals, When the show is performing they are in complete control of every aspect of a production, and everybody answers to them. 3 Plot Synopsis

'Professor' Harold Hill is a con man who sells musical instruments, pretending that he will teach youngsters to play them and form a town band. His plan to carry out the scam at River City, a small town in Iowa, is thwarted when he becomes attracted to Marian Paroo, the local librarian, who immediately recognizes him as the fraud he is. When some of the town officials become suspicious of him, he forms them into a . He gets around the ladies of the town by encouraging them to put on a concert and he wins Marian over by his kindness towards her younger brother, Winthrop, who was shy and withdrawn for several years over the death of his father before Hill arrived. Although she recognizes his scheme, Marian falls in love with him and helps him to escape detection. Hill is eventually found out, but decides to stay in town and face the music. Finally, the townspeople realize that even though he lied about the band, he did so much for the town (including the city officials, the ladies of the town and Winthrop) that they forgive him.

A Brief Biography of

Robert Reiniger Meredith Willson was born in Mason City, Iowa on 18 May 1902. Meredith Willson was educated at Damrosch Institute of Musical Art (now known as The Julliard School). He was a flute and piccolo player. Willson was the solo flautist with John Phillip Sousa's band from 1921 to 1923 and he played flute in the New York Philharmonic under the direction of Arturo Toscanini from 1924 to 1929. Willson was concert director for KFRC in San Francisco and then became the musical director at NBC first in San Francisco and then Hollywood.

As musical director / conductor, Willson is known for his work on the popular radio programs: Carefree Carnival (1933-1936), Maxwell House Coffee Time (1940-19) and The Big Show (1950-1953). He wrote the theme song for Maxwell House Coffee Time - "You and I" which became a number one hit. He also wrote "May the Good Lord Bless You and Keep You" as the show closer for The Big Show.

Willson scored Chaplin's and Hellman's The Little Foxes. He was a Major in the U.S. Army during World War II and was the Musical Director for the Armed Forces Radio Service.

Meredith Willson's opened on Broadway on 19 December 1957 and went on for a 1375 performance run. The cast album won the very first Grammy Award ever presented. The Music Man won eight with Willson winning for Best Musical Author and Best Composer and Lyricist. The movie version won the Academy Award for Best Musical Score.

Willson also wrote The Unsinkable Molly Brown, which opened on Broadway in 1960 and Here's Love (a musical adaptation of Miracle on 34th Street) opened on Broadway in 1963. Willson's song "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas" written in 1951 and made famous by Perry Como was used in Here's Love.

Meredith Willson died in Santa Monica on 15 June 1984 at the age of 82. 4 Traveling Salesmen

The traveling salesman appeared late in the 19th century both in Europe and in the U.S. The early itinerant peddler carried his goods on his back or on his horse, working his way from a port city through the hinterlands. With the coming of the railroad and the assurance given to sellers by new credit-reporting systems, salespersons with their sample cases moved across the land. Persuasive skill was less important in those days of unsatisfied demand, and orders were readily forthcoming. By 1900, however, with the increasing supply of manufactured goods, buyers became more discriminating in their purchases. Greater attention was given to training the sales force and to providing buyer incentives. The growth of industrialization and urban living led to the development of merchandising as a major business endeavor. The use of sales promotion practices has experienced steady growth in the 20th century. Life in 1912 Daily life back then was very different from the daily life we have today. Did you know that today's supermarket food selection was considered luxurious even for rich families back then? Here is a sample menu. Compare the food types and prices to 2005. Appetizers Half of a Main Course Vegetables Cantaloupe 10¢ Channel Catfish 20¢ Corn on the Cob 10¢ Sliced Orange 10¢ Pork Tenderloins 20¢ Buttered Beets 5¢ Young Onions 5¢ Omelet with Jelly 15¢ Mashed Potatoes 5¢ Sliced Tomatoes 10¢ Roast Pork with Applesauce 20¢ Pickled Beets 5¢ New Radishes 5¢ Chicken Fricassee 20¢ Cole Slaw 5¢ Sliced Cucumbers 10¢ Roast Beef 15¢ Salad 10¢ Soup Pork and Beans 15¢ Dessert Drinks Old Fashion Navy Bean 10¢ Lemon Layer Cake 5¢ Coffee 5¢ Foods introduced in 1912: Ice Cream 10¢ Milk 5¢ hamburger buns Ice Cream and Cake 15¢ Tea 5¢ Raspberries and Cream 10¢ Buttermilk 5¢ Hellmann's mayonnaise Rhubarb Pie 5¢ Life Savers Green Apple Pie 5¢ Lorna Doone cookies Morton table salt Ocean Spray cranberry sauce CLOTHES: Vitamins Back then most of the clothes for families were made by the Whitman's Sampler chocolates family mom. Soon they were fitted and made by tailors, Cracker Jack puts in a prize though. By the end of the decade almost everyone was buying already made clothes. The kinds of clothes that a woman would wear were usually skirts that came down to the ground. Even if she was doing "unladylike" things, such as farming or bicycling. Another thing that they wore were high, buttoned shoes. The men's suits were almost always dark and heavy. In the summer, out in the country a man might wear white flannel, but back then there was no such thing as a "summer weight suit". Almost every man wore a hat. Farmers wore Students modeling clothing, c. 1912 straw hats, rich people wore silk hats, and middle-class men wore derbies. So, as you can see the dress code back then was strict. ENTERTAINMENT: Back in mid 1900’s, entertainment wasn't very graphic. They mostly had books and the radio for entertainment. Songs were printed on sheets of paper, so if you had the certain instruments you could play it. Most families had a few members (if not the entire family) who could play one or more musical instruments. Popular song titles in 1912 were: When It's Apple Blossom Time in Normandy, Waiting for the Robert E. Lee, Be My Little Bumble Bee, It's a Long, Long Way to Tipperary, My Melancholy Baby 5 Glossary of Terms

One reason Meredith Willson's great American musical The Music Man is appealing is because of the fast paced and witty dialogue. However, there are a few terms and expressions used in the show that cause most of us to run to dictionaries and encyclopedias. Glossaries for two of the more difficult songs, Rock Island and Trouble are on the following pages. Below are words from the dialogue in the show.

Notions: Small lightweight items for and a composer. Sousa was the director of machine-made; and are the most common household use, such as needles, buttons, and the U.S. Marine Corps Band from 1880 to type of marble used. Harold: “Marbles. Six thread. Salesman 1:“Credit is no good for a 1892. After being discharged from the steelies, eight aggies, a dozen peewees and notions salesman.” Marine Corps he formed his own band and one big glassie.” Anvil: A heavy block of iron or steel with a gave concerts worldwide. His marches O’Clark, O’Mendez, O’Klein: These three smooth, flat top on which metals are shaped include "El Capitan," and "Stars and famous musicians were definitely not Irish. by hammering. Salesman 1:“Charlie, you’re Stripes Forever." Clark was Canadian, Mendez was Mexican, an anvil salesman..” Harold: “And you’ll feel something akin to and Klein was Jewish. Harold is just adding billiards vs. pool the trill I enjoyed when Gilmore, an O’ in front of their names to make them Billiards: Also known as caroom (or carom) Liberatti, Pat Conway, The great Creatore, sound Irish so he can make the sale. Harold: billiards, played with three balls (one cue ball W.C. Handy, and John Phillip Sousa all “Well– you see all the really great Coronet and two object balls) on a pocketless table came to town.” players were Irish O’Clark, O’Mendez, Pool: Developed much later than billiards. Jeely Kly: This is a regional phrase used O’Klein.” Also known as pocket billiards , using a cue as a more acceptable version of "Jesus The Wells Fargo Wagon: Since 1852, the ball and 15 object balls on a table with six Christ". Similar substitutes listed in slang Wells Fargo stagecoach has been a symbol of pockets. Marcellus: “Nothin’- except the dictionaries include Jeazle Peats, Jeezly, reliable service. Over one hundred years ago, billiard parlor's just put in a new pool jeasley, jeasly, Jee!, Gee! Jee whizz! their stages traveled across thousands of table.” Tommy: “Jeely Kly, lemee go.” miles of desert, prairie, and mountain roads Balzac: (1799-1850) Honoré de Balzac was pianola: a trademark kind of player piano; to deliver mail and cash. Gracie: Papa! The a French writer of realist novels. Marian: Pianola. a mechanically operated piano Wells Fargo Wagon is just comin’ up from “You’ll find it in Balzac.” that uses a roll of perforated paper to the depot!” masher: a man who is aggressive in making activate the keys. syn: player piano. Ethel: amorous advances to women. Marian; “Do I’m Ethel Toffelmier. The pianola girl?” you think that I’d allow a common masher?” Del Sarte: (1811–71) Francois Del Sarte, Gilmore:(1829-1892) Patrick Sarsfield French teacher of acting and singing. Gilmore was regarded by Delsarte formulated certain principles of as the "Father of The American Band." . He aesthetics that he applied to the teaching of wrote "When Johnny Comes Marching dramatic expression. He set up rules Home.” It was Patrick Gilmore and his band coordinating the voice with the gestures of who started the tradition of greeting the New all parts of the body. Harold: “Every move Year in Times Square. you make, Mrs. Shinn, bespeaks Del Liberatti: (1847-1927) Alessandro Liberati, . Sarte.” Born in Italy, played in the Cacciatori Band Chaucer: Geoffrey Chaucer, c.1340-1400. of Rome. 1872 came to U.S., became a U.S. English poet regarded as the greatest Zaneeta to Mayor: “It’s Capulets like you citizen, and directed his own band that toured literary figure of medieval England. His make blood in the marketplace”: reference the U.S. from 1889-1919 and 1921-23. best know work is The Canterbury Tales. to Shakespeare’s tragedy Romeo and Juliet Pat Conway: Patrick Conway, 1865-1929. Rabelais: (1494?-1553) Francois Rabelais (1596). Romeo, the young heir of the 1900-08, Director of the Ithaca N.Y. - a French humanist, is one of the comic Montagues, attends the great ball of the Municipal Band, which later became famous geniuses of literature. He was a Capulets in disguise and falls in love with as the Conway Band. Toured and performed Benedictine monk and became a physician. Juliet, the daughter of the house. During a around the U.S. at the same time as Sousa’s Beneath the often ribald humor of the book street brawl in the marketplace, Romeo’s band. The Great Creatore: Giuseppe C. are serious discussions of education, friend Mercutio is killed by Juliet’s cousin Creatore 1871-1952. Directed the Naples religion, politics, and philosophy. Tybalt, and Romeo in turn kills Tybalt. Municipal Band in Naples Italy. Came to the Alma Ethel and Eulalie sing: “Chaucer! Harold to Marian: “What does the Poet U.S. in 1899. Organized his own band, Rabelais! Balzac!” say? The coward dies a thousand deaths – Creatore’s Orchestra, which toured and Steelies: A type of marble. A shooter the brave man only 500”: The correct quote performed around the U.S. at the same time made out of steel that can be either solid or is “Cowards die many times before their as Sousa’s band, and continued performing hollow. deaths; / The valiant never taste of death but until 1947. Aggies: A type of marble. A shooter made once” -- William Shakespeare, from Julius W.C. Handy: 1873-1958, African-American from the mineral, agate. Caesar. songwriter and bandleader; b. Florence, Ala. PeeWees: A type of marble. A smaller He was among the first to set down the blues marble that is 1/2" or less in diameter. and became famous with Blues and St. Louis Blues. Glassies: A type of marble. Glassies are John Philip Sousa: 1854-1932, band leader glass marbles, either handmade or 6 Lyrics to Rock Island (opening song) Rock Island Glossary 1st salesman: Cash for the merchandise, cash for the button hooks button-hooks: A small hook for fastening a button on shoes 3rd salesman: Cash for the cotton goods, cash for the hard goods or gloves. 1st Salesman: Cash for the fancy goods noggins: A small mug or cup. Also a unit of liquid measure 2nd salesman: cash for the noggins and the piggins and the frikins 3rd Salesman: Cash for the hogdhead, cask and demijohn. Cash for the crackers and equal to one quarter of a pint. the pickles and the flypaper piggins: A small wooden pail or tub with an upright stave for 4th Salesman: Look whatayatalk. whatayatalk, whatayatalk, whatayataalk, whatayatalk? a handle, often used as a dipper. 5th Salesman: Weredayagitit? firkins: A small wooden barrel or covered vessel -- used for 4th Salesman: Whatayatalk? butter, lard, etc. 1st Salesman: Ya can talk, ya can talk, ya can bicker ya can talk, ya can bicker, bicker bicker ya can talk all ya want but is different than it was. hogshead: a very large barrel or cask with varying capacity Charlie: No it ain't, no it ain't, but ya gotta know the territory. to hold liquid. In the US a hogshead is 63 gallons. Rail car: Shh shh shh shh shh shh shh cask: A barrel-shaped vessel. It may be larger or smaller 3rd Salesman: Why it's the Model T Ford made the trouble, made the people wanna than a barrel. go, wanna get, wanna get up and go 7,8.9,10,12,14,22,23 miles to the county seat demijohn: a very large bottle, sometimes up to 10 gallons in 1st Salesman: Yes sir, yes sir capacity. Most were hand blown bottoms. They were used as 3rd Salesman: Who's gonna patronize a little bitty two by four kinda store anymore? 4th Salesman: Whaddaya talk, whaddaya talk. containers to hold wine, molasses, and other liquids. 5th Salesman: Where do you get it? Model T Ford: The first widely available automobile pow- Charlie: Not the Model T at all, take a gander at the store, at the modern store, at the ered by a gasoline engine; mass-produced by Henry Ford present day store, at the at the present day modern departmentalized grocery store from 1908 to 1927. 4th Salesman: Look whatayatalk. whatayatalk, whatayatalk, whatayataalk, whatayatalk? two-by-four kinda store: putdown - small or petty of its 5th Salesman: Weredayagitit? kind, as in "this house and its two–by–four garden" – Philip 4th Salesman: Whatayatalk? 1st Salesman: Ya can talk, ya can talk, ya can bicker ya can talk, ya can bicker, bicker Barry bicker ya can talk all ya want Uneeda Biscuit: Up to the 1880s, crackers were unbranded but is different than it was. and typically sold loose in cracker barrels. But Adolphus Charlie: No it ain't, no it ain't, but ya gotta know the territory Green, who had created the National Biscuit , de- 3rd Salesman: Why it’s the Uneeda Biscuit made the trouble. Uneeda, Uneeda put the cided to develop a distinctive, nationally branded prod- crackers in a package, the Uneeda Biscuit in an air-tight sanitary package made the uct .Green settled on the name Uneeda Biscuit ("biscuit," cracker barrel obsolete. Charlie: obsolete, obsolete Green decided, was more elegant than "cracker"). The prod- 4th Salesman: Cracker barrel went out the window with the mail pouch cut plug uct would be manufactured in a distinctive octagonal shape chawing by the stove. Changed the approach of the traveling salesman, made it pretty and sold in a waterproof wax paper-lined box. hard- sanitary package: first used to describe packaging to keep Charlie: No it didn't, no it didn't, but ya gotta know the territory. items like crackers from spoiling. From Encarta: "In 1899 the 3rd Salesman: Gone, gone National Biscuit Company introduced its successful Uneeda 1st Salesman: Gone with the hogshead cask and demijohn, gone with the sugar barrel, pickle barrel, milk pan, gone with the tub and the pail and the tierce Biscuit package. This package is generally considered to 2nd Salesman: Ever meet a fellow by the name of Hill? have signaled the end of the bulk-merchandising procedures 1st Salesman: Hill? Charlie: Hill? 3rd Salesman: Hill? 4th Salesman: Hill? 1st Newspa- of the country-store era." per Hill? 2nd Newspaper: Hill? cracker barrel: A large, cylindrical container, holding 5th Salesman: Hill? 2nd Salesman: Hill? crackers. People supposedly would gather round cracker bar- All but Charlie and 2nd Salesman: NO! rels for conversation in old-time general stores. 4th Salesman: Never heard of any salesman Hill 2nd Salesman: Now he doesn't know the territory Mail Pouch cut plug: a popular brand of chewing tobacco, 1st Salesman: Doesn't know the territory?!? sold in hard plugs that would be cut with a knife. The gro- 3rd Salesman: What's the fellows line? cery store owner would use a mechanical device to cut the 2nd Salesman: Never worries bout his line plug into flakes to sell or make hand-made cigarettes to sell. 1st Salesman: Never worries bout his line?!? tierce: A cask holding the old unit of liquid measure of the 2nd Salesman: Or a doggone thing. He's just a bang beat, bell ringing, Big haul, great same name equal to 42 US gallons. which salt provisions, go, neck or nothin, rip roarin, every time a bull's eye salesman. That's Professor Harold Hill, Harold Hill rice, etc., are packed for shipment. 3rd Salesman: What's the fellows line? line– the product the salesman sells. 5th Salesman: What's his line? Jews-harp: A lyre-shaped instrument of music, which, when Charlie: He's a fake, and he doesn't know the territory! placed between the teeth, gives, by means of a bent metal 4th Salesman: Look, whaddayatalk, whaddayatalk, whaddayatalk, whaddaystalk? tongue struck by the finger, a sound which is modulated by 2nd Saleman: He's a music man the breath. Also called also jaw harp and Jew's-trump. 1st Salesman: He's a what? 3rd Salesman: He's a what? when the man dances the piper pays him: To pay the piper 2nd Salesman: He's a music man and he sells clarinets to the kids in the town with the means "to bear the consequences of something". This twist big trombones and the rat-a-tat means Harold Hill never has had to pay for his actions – as a drums, big brass bass, big brass bass, and the piccolo, the piccolo with uniforms, too matter of fact, he even profits from them without conse- with a shiny gold braid on the coat and a big red stripe runnin . . . quences 1st Salesman: Well, I don't know much about bands but I do know you can't make a living selling big trombones, no sir., Mandolin picks, perhaps and here and there a Jew's harp ... 2nd Salesman: No, the fellow sells bands, Boys bands. I don't know how he does it but he lives like a king and he dallies and he gathers and he plucks and shines and when the man dances, certainly boys, what else? The piper pays him! Yes sir ,yes sir, yes sir, yes sir, when the man dances, certainly boys, what else? The piper pays him! Yessssir, Yessssir Charlie: But he doesn't know the territory! 7 Lyrics to Trouble Trouble Glossary Harold: Well, either you're closing your eyes I'm thinkin' of the kids in the knickerbockers, balkline: A line parallel to one end of To a situation you do now wish to acknowledge Shirt-tail young ones, peekin' in the pool a billiard table, from behind which Or you are not aware of the caliber of disaster Hall window after school, look, folks! opening shots with the cue ball are indicated Right here in River City. made. By the presence of a pool table in your Trouble with a capital "T" Jasper: any male fellow or chum, community. And that rhymes with "P" and that stands for usually a stranger , my friend, right here, pool! Dan Patch: (1897-1916) Most famous I say, trouble right here in River City. Now, I know all you folks are the right kinda trotting horse ever, from Indiana. Why sure I'm a billiard player, parents. cistern: A receptacle for holding Certainly mighty proud I say I'm gonna be perfectly frank. water or other liquid, especially a tank I'm always mighty proud to say it. Would ya like to know what kinda conversation for catching and storing rainwater. I consider that the hours I spend goes knickerbockers: Full breeches With a cue in my hand are golden. On while they're loafin' around that Hall? gathered and banded just below the Help you cultivate horse sense They're tryin' out Bevo, tryin' out cubebs, knee (which is why moving them And a cool head and a keen eye. Tryin' out Tailor Mades like Cigarette Fiends! above the knee is such a shocking Never take and try to give And bragging' all about thing to do) An iron-clad leave to yourself How they're going to cover up a tell-tale breath shirt-tail young ones: Very young: From a three-rail billiard shot? with Sense. shirttail kids. But just as I say, One fine night, they leave the pool hall, Bevo: From Anheuser-Busch. A non- It takes judgment, brains, and maturity to score Heading' for the dance at the Armory! alcoholic drink that tasted like beer. In a balkline game, Libertine men and Scarlet women! Cubebs: the dried unripe berry of a I say that any boob kin take And Rag-time, shameless music tropical shrub (Piper cubeba) of the And shove a ball in a pocket. That'll grab your son and your daughter pepper family that is crushed and And they call that sloth. With the arms of a jungle animal instinct! smoked in cigarettes. The first big step on the road Mass-stair! Tailor Mades: A tailor-made cigarette To the depths of deg-ra-Day-- Friends, the idle brain is the devil's playground! referred to any cigarette made in a I say, first, medicinal wine from a teaspoon, Mothers of River City! factory on a cigarette making machine. Then beer from a bottle. Heed the warning before it's too late! Sen Sen: was to the 19th century An' the next thing ya know, Watch for the tell-tale sign of corruption! what breath mints are to our time. Any Your son is playin' for money The moment your son leaves the house, country store worth its salt, In a pinch-back suit. Does he rebuke his knickerbockers below the prominently displayed a box of the And list'nin to some big out-a-town Jasper knee? handy little packets within easy reach Hearin' him tell about horse-race gamblin'. Is there a nicotine stain on his index finger? of its customers. Not a wholesome trottin' race, no! A dime novel hidden in the corn crib? Rag-time: A style of jazz But a race where they set down right on the Is he starting to memorize jokes from characterized by elaborately horse! Capt. Billy's Whiz Bang? syncopated rhythm in the melody and Like to see some stuck-up jockey' boy Are certain words creeping into his conversation? a steadily accented accompaniment. Sittin' on Dan Patch? Make your blood boil? Words like 'swell?" Captain Billy’s Whiz Bang: Captain Well, I should say. And “so's your old man?” Billy’s was the most prominent comic Friends, lemme tell you what I mean. Well, if so my friends, magazine in America with its mix of Ya got one, two, three, four, five, six pockets in Yaw got trouble, racy poetry and naughty jokes and a table. Right here in River city! puns, aimed at a small-town audience Pockets that mark the diff'rence With a capital "T" with pretensions of ‘sophistication’" Between a gentlemen and a bum, And that rhymes with "P" so’s your old man: catch phrase from With a capital "B," And that stands for Pool. 1900. An exclamation, used as a retort And that rhymes with "P" and that stands for We've surely got trouble! to an insult or slur. pool! Right here in River City! The Maine: U.S. battleship sunk (Feb. And all week long your River City Remember the Maine, Plymouth Rock and the 15, 1898) in Havana harbor, killing Youth'll be frittern away, Golden Rule! 260, in an incident that helped I say your young men'll be frittern! Oh, we've got trouble. precipitate the Spanish-American War. Frittern away their noontime, suppertime, We're in terrible, terrible trouble. “Remember the Maine” became the choretime too! That game with the fifteen numbered balls is a rallying cry of the war. Get the ball in the pocket, devil's tool! Plymouth Rock: Plymouth, Never mind gittin' Dandelions pulled Oh yes we got trouble, trouble, trouble! Massachusetts, is the oldest settlement Or the screen door patched or the beefsteak With a "T"! Got to rhyme it with "P"! in New England, founded in 1620. pounded. And that stands for Pool!!! Plymouth Rock is on the beach where Never mind pumpin' any water the Mayflower landed. 'Til your parents are caught with the Cistern The Golden Rule: saying of Jesus, empty from the Bible --Evolved into modern On a Saturday night and that's trouble, saying – Do unto others as you would Oh, yes we got lots and lots a' trouble. have them do unto you. 8 American , a brief overview

The Music Man is a perfect example of the classic American Musical. But what exactly is the “American Musical” ? Below is short history of the art form:

Although English ballad operas and musical afterpieces were performed in many of the colonies, no native works appeared until the 1780s. They were called everything from "comic operas" to "oratorical entertainments." The first major star of the American musical stage was probably John Durang (born in Lancaster, PA) who performed hornpipes, jigs, and topical songs as interludes in plays and operas and later ran his own theater company. But it was not until The Black Crook, which opened in 1866 at Niblo's Gardens in New York, that song, dance, and spectacle were grafted onto an existing melodrama and the American musical was born. The story was rather wooden, but this was compensated for by lines of ballet girls dancing in precision formations while the chorus sang songs like "The Amazon March."

By the end of the nineteenth century the American musical stage encompassed a number of genres. Operettas included Victor Herbert's Babes in Toyland (1903), with its famous "March of the Toys," and the Vienna import The Merry Widow by Franz Lehar, first seen in New York in 1907. There were also topical musicals such as A Trip to Chinatown (1891), which featured local color and geographical songs like "The Bowery," and revues with roots in minstrel shows, which were a sophisticated development of the burlesque and vaudeville format.

George M. Cohan, a key figure in the musical theater in the early twentieth century, wrote, produced, directed, and starred in shows that dealt with jingoistic and patriotic themes and made popular such songs as "Give My Regards to Broadway" and "Over There." After World War I Broadway entered one of its golden periods when "Cinderella" musicals (so called because usually the heroine starts poor and ends up rich and famous) like Irene (1919), Sally (1920), and Sunny (1925) dominated the stage, the last two tailor-made vehicles for the era's biggest star, Marilyn Miller. Tap dancing choruses regaled audiences in No! No! Nanette! (1925) or did the "Varsity Drag" in Good News (1927), and George and Ira Gershwin introduced a more sophisticated jazz style in such musicals as Oh, Kay! (1926) and Funny Face (1927).

Florenz Ziegfeld glorified the American girl in his famous annual , which introduced Fanny Brice, Eddie Cantor, Will Rogers, and Bert Williams, the first black entertainer to become a major Broadway attraction. Ziegfeld's production of Show Boat (1927), written by Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II, pointed the way to a new form of musical play distinct from the fast-moving musical comedy and the flamboyant operetta.

During the Great Depression the revue format became less lavish; examples include The Bandwagon (1931), which showcased the talents of Fred and Adele Astaire, and 's As Thousands Cheer (1933), which introduced the hit songs "Heat Wave" and "Easter Parade." The composer who probably best personified the era was Cole Porter, whose wit and sophistication beguiled audiences in such musicals as Anything Goes (1934), Red, Hot and Blue! (1936), and DuBarry Was a Lady (1939), all three written for Ethel Merman, famous for her clarion tone and spirited delivery.

Although dancing had always been a part of the musical, it became more closely linked to the story when Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart asked George Balanchine to choreograph the dances 9

for On Your Toes in 1936. The importance of dance in the musical story was carried further by Agnes de Mille, choreographer in 1943 of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Oklahoma!, which banished dancing choruses and extraneous numbers and integrated song and dance with both plot and character development, especially in the "Dream Ballet" at the end of the first act, a dance making visual the heroine's personal dilemmas.

The Rodgers and Hammerstein format was employed successfully in Original Music Man logo, 1957 productions from (1949) to (1959), both starring the popular Mary Martin, and was continued by Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe in (1956) and Camelot (1960), as well as The Music Man by Meredith Wilson (1957) among many others.

The next step in the Broadway musical was taken by who conceived, directed, and choreographed (1957), written by Leonard Bernstein and . This production made dance integral to the story (not just in a dream sequence) and demanded that performers sing, dance, and act—the triple-threat talent required for most subsequent shows.

During the 1960s the ascent of rock 'n' roll pushed Broadway out of its place as the trendsetter of American popular music. The Great White Way reacted in two ways: retreats into nostalgia in shows like Jerry Herman's Hello, Dolly! (1964) and (1966) and spoofs of the rock craze, as in Bye, Bye, Birdie (1960). Hair (1967), billed as "the tribal love-rock musical," was the closest Broadway came to capturing the era, but there were no successful follow-ups. Black musicals such as (1975) or Ain't Misbehavin' (1978) brought a more diverse audience to some theaters, but increasingly Broadway appealed to a more limited audience, as the high costs of producing a musical forced the price of tickets up—fifteen dollars for an orchestra seat in 1970, thirty-five dollars by 1980, sixty dollars by 1990. Stephen Sondheim was the most prominent American composer-lyricist of the era with his sophisticated approach that conceptualized the musical as a theme rather than a sequential story. This was first seen with Company in 1970 and continued twenty years later with (1989).

In contrast to the Sondheim musicals were director-choreographer shows, usually dealing with some form of show business. The best example is Michael Bennett's (1974), which showed the grim prospects of a Broadway audition and became the longest-running musical in Broadway history, not closing until 1990.

During the 1980s Broadway saw its leadership challenged by British musicals. Andrew Lloyd Webber was especially successful with such shows as (1978), (1982), and Phantom of the Opera (1987), all of which combined spectacle, special effects, and large casts accompanied by almost continuous music and little or no spoken dialogue. The American musical was not dead, however, and the acclaimed (1990), (1996) and Wicked (2003) prove there is a continuing vitality on the Broadway stage. 10 After the performance

Discussion Questions:

• What moments of this production were memorable for you? List the three things you liked most about the show and why.

• What did you think of the Set, Lights, and Costumes? How did all those elements help tell the story ? How did the Set designer define each location? How did the Light designer help set the mood? How did the Costume designer help define each character?

• What character would you want to be if you were in The Music Man? Why?

• Is Harold Hill a hero or a villain? Why do you think so?

• How did Harold, Marion and Winthrop change from the beginning of the play to the end? Did any other characters change?

• Do any of the characters remind you of anyone you know today? Friends, family, politicians or celebrities?

• Can we learn anything from The Music Man? Is there a moral to the story? What moral would you write for it?

Activities: • Write a letter to the actor who played your favorite character, telling them why you choose them. Or write to the designers telling them what you liked or what you would have done differently, include your own designs if you want to! Letters may be sent to: Fulton Opera House, Attn. Joanna Underhill, PO BOX 1865, Lancaster , PA 17608-1865

• Be Salesman! – with a twist: Harold Hill is a fast-talker. He’s a good salesman because he always sounds like he knows what he’s talking about even when he is making it up right on the spot. Here is a fun game of salesmanship in which you get to create your very own language: Gibberish Introduction– Gibberish is the substitution of shaped sounds for recognizable speech. Each player should find a partner and practice having a c conversation in gibberish. Make sure players are varying their sounds and sticking to a monotonous repition, i e. dee dee da da dee dee. Gibberish selling– Each player, speaking gibberish, sells or demonstrates something to the group. Allow one to two minutes per player. Player scan practice in pairs before selling or demstarting to the group. Keep in Mind– Direct . Players should “pitch” their product to the audience. “Pitching” as practiced in carnivals, stores, or traveling salesmen requires direct contact with others. Questions to ask– What was being sold or demonstrated? Was there variety in the gibberish? Did the player “pitch” directly to us? Would you buy the product?

• What if? Use your imagination and answer some “what if” questions– What if Harold sold shoes instead of instruments? How would he get the town to buy them? What if Marian turned Harold in instead of helping him? What if Mrs. Shinn fell in love with Harold? Write your own “what if” questions. Share them with the class. Write down your answers and act them out as new scenes fort the show.